KEY ESTATES are an established Estate Agency based on the Costa del Sol and Costa Blanca and shortly a new office opening in the UK. Our current two branches are located in Calahonda- Costa Del Sol and Torrevieja- Costa Blanca.

Those who fear that Marbella is losing its cachet and its
quality as a result of the building spurt should listen to Andrew Mancais of
Hamptons Fielding International. “There is a strong and steady demand for
properties at €750.000,” he says. “More importantly, these are end-user buyers
who are purchasing because they either intend to live with their families in
Marbella or spend regular prolonged holidays here. They are not investors
looking to make a profit by early re-sale.”

“Our figures show a slowdown in both demand and sales on the
Costa del Sol for the last quarter of 2003,” says Mancais, “but 2004 is seeing
much stronger demand from the UK in particular and the numbers are rising
again.” Other property people agree with Mancais that the increase of end-user
buyers and the dropping off of investor-speculators is a healthy sign for the
property market. “More and more people are coming to the Costa del Sol to make
their homes here,” says Adrian Van Loon of Merweval properties in Sotogrande.
“They are interested in schools for their children and ease of communication
with their working base in London or wherever it may be.” “We are seeing fewer
speculators who want to buy off-plan and re-sell the property for a quick profit
even before it is finished,” says Leonardo Cromstedt of the Eralia group,
developing properties around Benahavís. “A growing percentage of our buyers
intend to inhabit the property themselves, and this has a stabilising effect on
the market.”

“The only real problem I see in the market,” says Andrew
Mancais, “is the over-supply of properties under €300.000. Many of these were
originally purchased off-plan by investors hoping to realise a profit by
immediate re-sale as they approached completion. Now there may be as many as
3,000 of these apartments all coming onto the market around Nueva Andalucía in
particular, just as we are having a slowdown.” This means that many of the
investors will find themselves in a bind. Those who are over-extended and unable
to make the final payments will have to reduce their prices, and their profits,
in order to sell quickly.

However, jumps of more than 20 per cent are still being seen in
the western areas of the coast, like the Casares-Manilva area, where development
is booming. Hamptons Fielding are also predicting that UK buyers, drawn by
Spain’s low interest rates and driven by the UK housing boom, which shows no
signs of slowing down, will continue to come to Marbella.